American Made: What Happens to People When Work Disappears is a 2021 non-fiction book by Farah Stockman that focused on Rexnord ball-bearing factory workers whose fate and jobs were uncertain following an announcement of the factory's closure.[1] Stockman explored the overlay between blue collar workers, rural America and 2016 Trump voters and how the economy, political decisions and eventually Covid-19 impacted their job security.[2][3] The book went into further exploration of race, gender, and social justice issues,[4] and in the case of one employee, prior factory relocations that impacted his financial well-being.[5][6]

American Made: What Happens to People When Work Disappears
AuthorFarah Stockman
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
PublisherRandom House
Publication date
October 12, 2021
Pages432
ISBN1984801163
OCLC1284827898

The book followed earlier writing by Stockman on this topic for the New York Times, who sent her to Indiana to cover the follow-up to President Trump's tweet about future factory closures. Over the course of her writing, Stockman met a number of factory workers and ultimately chose to focus on three in American Made:John Feltner, Raleigh (Wally) Hall, and Shannon Mulcahy.[7][8] While the President's tweet did not stop the jobs from moving, both the tweet and the economic climate which helped pursue some blue collar workers to support Donald Trump's candidacy, had a significant impact on these factory workers.[9]

External links edit

American Made on Open Library at the Internet Archive

References edit

  1. ^ "[Online] - Farah Stockman, American Made". New America. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  2. ^ Bernt, Joseph. "Column: Books, authors and turtle rescuers visit library". Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  3. ^ "The impact of job loss to the American worker". www.mckinsey.com. McKinsey. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  4. ^ Stockman, Farah (2021-10-07). "Opinion, What Killed the Blue-Collar Struggle for Social Justice". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  5. ^ Davies, Richard (2021-10-12). "When a Factory Relocates to Mexico, What Happens to Its American Workers?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  6. ^ Tuttle, Kate (October 14, 2021). "In Farah Stockman's 'American Made,' working-class blues after a factory closes - The Boston Globe". Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  7. ^ Stockman, Farah (2017-10-14). "Becoming a Steelworker Liberated Her. Then Her Job Moved to Mexico". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  8. ^ McCallum, Laura. "Review: 'American Made: What Happens to People When Work Disappears,' by Farah Stockman". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  9. ^ "Author profiles workers who were laid off when their jobs went to Mexico". NPR.org. 2021-10-20. Retrieved 2021-12-18.